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Gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infections have a significant impact on the health and productivity of small ruminants, while data on mixed-species grazing systems in Central Europe are scarce. This study aimed to compare GIN species richness and infection intensity in co-grazed dairy sheep and goats under a conventional grazing system in the Czech Republic. Over a 12-month period, 210 goat and 196 sheep faecal samples were analyzed using the McMaster method, followed by larval culture. Both hosts harboured spp., and . Goats exhibited consistently higher egg shedding, with a mean peak egg count of 1240 EPG in June, whereas sheep reached a markedly lower peak of 620 EPG in February. In goats, predominated year-round, while in sheep, spp. showed pronounced seasonal fluctuations, comprising up to 60% of larvae in autumn. Differences in infection intensity between species were statistically significant (U = 24 697.5, p < 0.001). These results support the hypothesis that co-grazing does not homogenise parasite burdens between host species and demonstrate species-specific seasonal infection dynamics. Such insights directly address the study’s aim of characterising species composition and infection intensity in co-grazed sheep and goats, providing an evidence-based basis for optimising sustainable parasite management in mixed grazing systems.

The sustainability of grazed rangelands can be improved by adopting innovative management practices that enhance the ecological resilience, productivity, and long-term viability of rangeland ecosystems. This study applied a bivariate Multiple Indicator–Multiple Causation model to examine how landowner characteristics are associated with their perceptions concerning patch-burn grazing (PBG) and mixed-species grazing (MSG). Data were collected through a mail survey of landowners in the Southern Great Plains who own at least 100 acres. The significant and positive correlation between PBG and MSG suggests that their relative preference tends to change together, potentially allowing them to complement when implemented together.

Increasing plant diversity can increase ecosystem functioning, stability, and services in both natural and managed grasslands, but the effects of herbivore diversity, and especially of livestock diversity, remain underexplored. Given that managed grazing is the most extensive land use worldwide, and that land managers can readily change livestock diversity, we experimentally tested how livestock diversification (sheep, cattle, or both) influenced multidiversity (the diversity of plants, insects, soil microbes, and nematodes) and ecosystem multifunctionality (including plant biomass production, plant leaf N and P, above-ground insect abundance, nutrient cycling, soil C stocks, water regulation, and plant–microbe symbiosis) in the world’s largest remaining grassland. We also considered the potential dependence of ecosystem multifunctionality on multidiversity. We found that livestock diversification substantially increased ecosystem multifunctionality by increasing multidiversity. The link between multidiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality was always stronger than the link between single diversity components and functions. Our work provides insights into the importance of multitrophic diversity to maintain multifunctionality in managed ecosystems and suggests that diversifying livestock could promote both multidiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality in an increasingly managed world.

1. It is well documented that large herbivores have pronounced effects on plant communities in grassland ecosystems, and the extent and course of their effects can largely depend on both plant and herbivore characteristics. Previous studies highlighted the importance of plant productivity in predicting the impact of herbivores on grasslands. Yet, there has been little consideration of how different herbivores affect plant communities that, in turn, differ in plant diversity. 2. In a 2-year grazing experiment, we tested the effects of large herbivores (cattle or sheep, or both together) on plant communities under high and low plant diversity levels in eastern Eurasian steppe. 3. We found that, for high plant diversity grassland, mixed grazing by cattle and sheep significantly increases plant diversity, but we found no effect of grazing by cattle or sheep alone. Grazing by cattle or sheep alone or mixed grazing by cattle and sheep did not significantly affect plant biomass in the high diversity grassland. However, for low plant diversity grassland, grazing by cattle alone and mixed grazing by cattle and sheep significantly increased plant diversity, but significantly decreased plant biomass. There was no significant impact on both plant diversity and biomass from sheep grazing. 4. Synthesis and applications. We conclude that the effects of grazing in grassland strongly depend on herbivore assemblages and pre-grazing plant diversity. Herbivore grazing might contribute more to the maintenance of grassland structure and ecosystem functioning under high plant diversity compared with low plant diversity. Furthermore, our data suggest that multiple-species mixed grazing regimes in grassland systems with high plant diversity could represent the optimal protocol for grazing management. This study emphasizes the importance of maintaining both plant and herbivore diversity to optimize ecosystem functioning.

Although livestock grazing can strongly affect pools and cycles of phosphorus (P) in grassland ecosystems, few studies have examined how grassland management regimes influence the components of the soil P pool. Here, we use a long-term experiment in the Inner Mongolia grassland to examine how grassland management and biotic and abiotic factors affect soil P fractions. The grassland management regimes we studied included a traditional grazing system (continuous grazing, TS), a mixed grazing system (grazing and mowing rotation, MS), and a haymaking system (continuous mowing, HS). Our results showed that traditional grazing accelerated the return of P to ecosystems lost by herbivores and decoupled labile P (i.e., Ca2-P) from soil organic carbon in the topsoil (0–10 cm). Labile P was significantly reduced in the topsoil in HS (− 10%) and MS (− 24%). Mowing promoted the downward movement of soil P and the transformation of O-P to Ca2-P in the topsoil by removing large amounts of biomass and litter. Both grazing and mowing increased Fe-P and Ca10-P concentrations. The amount of labile P in the topsoil was mainly explained by plant properties, whereas the amounts of moderately labile P (Ca8-P, Al-P and Fe-P) and stable P (O-P and Ca10-P) were mainly explained by soil properties. Moreover, shifts in plant community composition resulted in substantial impacts on the soil stable P fractions. Our study demonstrates that long-term continuous grazing is detrimental to the accumulation of available nutrients in soils. Understanding how grazing and mowing affect conversion between P pools could improve adaptive grassland management in the face of global change.

Context Fire is an essential ecological process of Great Plains grasslands and savannas and has been increasingly used as a management tool, primarily for reducing woody plant encroachment and improving forage quality. More recently, the focus has shifted to emphasize the spatiotemporal interactions between fire and grazing (i.e., pyric herbivory-herbivore grazing influenced or driven by fire) to enhance landscape heterogeneity and biodiversity. Objectives This study aimed to examine spatial–temporal distributions of cattle, sheep, and goats in a Mesquite-Oak-Savanna landscape under a pyric herbivory management regime. We examined how different livestock species respond to prescribed fires and each other, and whether multi-species grazing behavior aligns with a pyric herbivory framework. Methods Under a pyric herbivory scheme with mixed grazing, about 15% of a 1560-ha research ranch was burned annually over 2019 and 2020, and internal fences were opened to allow free-ranging livestock movement. GPS collars were fitted on randomly selected individuals of cattle, sheep, and goats to record locations every 10 min during the study. Results Cattle and goats showed stronger preferences for recently burned areas, while sheep favored unburned areas. Cattle and sheep herds tended to graze closer together, whereas goats maintained greater distances from both species. Conclusions With mixed species (cattle, sheep, and goat) grazing, not all livestock species had preferential use of the recently burned areas which is a critical element of pyric herbivory process for promoting biodiversity. The findings suggest the need to refine the conceptual framework and management practices of pyric herbivory with mixed species grazing for promoting biodiversity in Great Plains savanna landscapes.

The spatial heterogeneity of limiting soil resources is an essential factor determining ecosystem processes and function. It has been reported that large herbivores can strongly impact the variation and spatial distribution pattern of soil nitrogen (N). However, it remains unclear how large herbivores affect soil spatial heterogeneity and whether this influence is dependent on plant community diversity. Here we examined effects of different herbivore assemblages [no grazing; cattle grazing (CG); sheep grazing (SG); and mixed grazing (MG) of cattle and sheep] on soil N spatial heterogeneity in grasslands with high and low pre‐grazing plant diversity in an eastern Eurasian steppe. We found that herbivore grazing generated and maintained spatial patterns of soil nutrients, depending on herbivore assemblage and the level of pre‐grazing plant diversity. CG increased the spatial heterogeneity of soil available N in Leymus chinensis‐dominated steppe meadows, which were independent of pre‐grazing plant diversity. However, the effects of SG and MG strongly depended on grassland plant diversity, with an increased spatial heterogeneity of soil available N in the high‐diversity grassland, but not in the low‐diversity grassland. Synthesis and applications. We concluded that in a L. chinensis‐dominated eastern Eurasian steppe, cattle ranching could be considered as an optimal grazing management protocol to improve soil spatial heterogeneity because cattle grazing (CG) consistently increased soil spatial heterogeneity in the context of both low and high plant diversity. Nevertheless, soil spatial heterogeneity could be improved by any herbivore grazing regime [CG and/or sheep grazing (SG)] when high plant diversity is maintained. These findings highlight the importance of conserving plant diversity to maintain grassland structure and ecosystem function. In grassland systems with high plant diversity, herbivore grazing and plant diversity would jointly improve soil spatial heterogeneity, thus feeding back to maintain higher plant diversity. Therefore, high plant diversity could generate a positive feedback loop of herbivore–plant–soil interactions in grazed grassland systems. Our findings indicate the importance of herbivore assemblages in maintaining spatial heterogeneity in low‐ and high‐diversity grassland systems.

Woody plant encroachment – the conversion of open grasslands and savannas to woodlands – represents one of the gravest threats to grassland biomes worldwide. This is especially true for the Great Plains of the US. We contend that the widespread adoption of pyric herbivory (the synergistic application of fire and grazing) and mixed-species grazing (cattle [Bos taurus] and goats [Capra spp]) would not only make grasslands and savannas more resilient to woody plant encroachment but would also enhance the profitability and resiliency of livestock production systems. These management strategies control woody plants, increase biodiversity, improve grassland ecosystem function, and favor livestock production. Although this management paradigm holds tremendous potential by mimicking original grassland disturbance regimes, it has not been widely adopted because of cultural constraints. Saving the remaining natural grasslands in the Great Plains and elsewhere will require a widespread shift in cultural norms – facilitated by targeted government incentives and a coordinated program of regional research, extension, and education that involves farmers and ranchers as key stakeholders.

1. Accounting for 10%-30% of global soil organic carbon, grassland soils potentially present a large reservoir for storing atmospheric CO₂. Livestock grazing management can substantially affect grassland soil carbon (C) storage, but few controlled experiments have explored how herbivore assemblages (different herbivore species and combinations) affect soil C storage. 2. We examined effects of moderate grazing by different herbivore assemblages (no grazing; sheep grazing; cattle grazing; mixed grazing by sheep and cattle) on soil organic carbon storage in two types of grassland communities (high forbs/high diversity and low forbs/low diversity), within a semi-arid grassland with a 5-year grazing history. 3. We found that herbivore assemblage generated varying effects on soil C storage and the effects were subject to grassland community types. In the low diversity community, none of three herbivore assemblages studied had obvious effects on soil C storage. In the high diversity community, however, sheep grazing significantly decreased soil C storage due to high selectivity for high quality forbs, and cattle grazing had no effects on soil C storage, while mixed grazing by sheep and cattle significantly increased soil C storage. Overall, soil C storage was highest in mixed-grazed grassland sites with high diversity. 4. Synthesis and applications. Our study suggests that explicitly incorporating grazer species and the combination of grazing livestock into grassland grazing management may help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Caution should be exercised when using grazer species with high food selectivity in grazing management aimed at climate mitigation, especially in grasslands with abundant high quality forbs and high plant diversity, as sheep grazing may reduce soil carbon (C) storage. Moreover, mixed grazing, including multiple herbivore species, may contribute to a reduction in foraging selectivity for a plant community by means of complementary foraging. It could therefore be considered as an optimal grazing management strategy to maintain and improve soil C storage.

1. Herbivore grazing has major effects on soil nutrient dynamics in a variety of grassland ecosystems. Previous studies have examined how large herbivores as a group affect nutrient cycling, but little information is available on how assemblages of different herbivore species may influence nutrient cycling, and whether herbivore assemblage effects are influenced by plant community characteristics (e.g. composition, diversity) of the grazed grassland. 2. We conducted a 5-year, replicated grazing experiment to test the effects of different large herbivore assemblages (cattle grazing, sheep grazing, combined cattle and sheep grazing, no grazing) under moderate grazing intensity on soil nitrogen (N) mineralization rate in two types of grassland communities (high forbs/high diversity and low forbs/low diversity) in meadow steppe habitat of northeast China. Moreover, we examined two distinctly different pathways that herbivores could influence soil N availability: directly through urine and dung deposition and indirectly by shifting grassland species composition (i.e. the grass: forb ratio), thereby the quality of plant litter available to soil decomposers. 3. We found that grazer effects on soil N availability (indexed with anion and cation adsorption strips) depended on herbivore assemblage, and the herbivore assemblage effects varied in the two types of grasslands. In one type of grassland characterized by low diversity, grazing by each of the herbivore assemblages enhanced soil N availability compared to the ungrazed plots, and mixed species (cattle and sheep) grazing had a greater effect than single species grazing. In high diversity grassland, single species herbivore grazing significantly increased soil N availability, but mixed grazing had no effect. 4. Mixed linear modelling revealed that soil N availability was facilitated primarily by excreta additions to the soil and secondarily by the abundance of grasses. 5. Synthesis. Grazers increased soil N availability directly by adding accessible N. in urine and dung ti the soil Hebivores indirectly influenced soil N availability by altering the plant composition (grass: forb cover). Both mechanisms contributed to the variation in how different herbivore assemblages affected soil N availability in the two grassland types.